The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to tighten its oversight of certain chemical substances by adding 16 chemicals to its Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) list. The proposal, which is part of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's campaign to provide communities with more complete information about chemicals, would represent the first expansion of the programme in more than a decade.

TRI is a public EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities. It houses data on nearly 650 chemicals and chemical groups from about 22,000 industrial facilities in the US.

The EPA says it has reviewed the available studies and concluded that the 16 chemicals in question - which include vinyl fluoride and four substances that fall under the polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) category involving persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic chemicals - could cause cancer in humans.

Approximately 175 facilities will be affected by the proposals, estimates the EPA. They are expected to file 186 reports containing release and waste management data for the 16 chemicals being proposed for addition. 'The proposed rule will result in the expenditure of resources by both industry and the EPA,' the agency's economic analysis concludes. Affected facilities are expected to spend time reporting the required information to the EPA through the 10-page 'Form-R', which seeks detailed information including activities and uses of the toxic chemical in question at the facility, the maximum amount of the toxic chemical on site at any time during the calendar year, on-site energy recovery processes, and on-site recycling processes. EPA also notes it will spend time processing these new forms.

Should the EPA's proposals be enacted, the agency estimates that these compliance activities will cost industry nearly $860,000 (£560,000) in the first year, and nearly $290,000 in the subsequent years. In comparison, the EPA expects to incur costs of less than $800 a year.

The chemical industry is scrutinizing the EPA's plan in order to offer recommendations and input during the 60-day period when the agency will accept comments on the proposal before finalizing it.

The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates - an international trade association based in Washington, DC that represents the small and mid-sized batch chemical manufacturers - says it is still 'vetting the issue' with its member companies and trying to determine how, if at all, it affects them.

Scientists Develop PO Using Silver Nanoclusters

Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have identified a class of silver-based catalysts for the production of propylene oxide, which they claim is less expensive than traditional catalysts as well as being environmentally friendly.

"The production of propylene oxide has a significant amount of by-products that are harmful to the environment, including chlorinated or peroxycarboxylic waste,” said chemist Stefan Vajda of Argonne's Materials Science Division and Center for Nanoscale Materials. “We have identified nanoclusters of silver as a catalyst that produce this chemical with few by-products at low temperatures,” he explained in an April 8 statement.

The statement said that although large silver particles have been used to produce PO from propylene, “this method suffers from a low selectivity or low conversion to PO -- creating a large amount of carbon dioxide.” However, Vajda claims, nanoscale clusters of silver -- consisting of three-atom clusters as well as larger clusters of 3.5 nanometers -- are highly active and selective catalysts for the production of PO.

Materials chemist Larry Curtiss and nanoscientist Jeff Greeley, both part of the research team, subsequently discovered that the “open shell electronic structure of the silver catalysts was the impetus behind the nanoclusters' selectivity,” the statement said.

"Propylene oxide is a building block in the creation of several other industrially relevant chemicals, but the current methods of creating it are not efficient,” Curtiss said. “The work opens a new chapter in the field of silver as a catalyst for propylene epoxidation.”

“This is basically a holy grail reaction,” Greeley added.

The study is a result of a collaborative team involving five Argonne divisions and collaborators from the Fritz-Haber-Institut in Berlin and from the University of Illinois in Chicago, including a collaboration between the experimental effort led by Vajda and the theoretical analysis led by Curtiss and Greeley.

PO is a commodity chemical used in the manufacture of polyurethanes and as a building block in the production of intermediate products. PO derivatives include, among others, butanediol, propylene glycol and solvents.

ThermoEnergy & F. R. Mahony to Develop Process for Organic Nitrogen Removal in Wastewater Treatment

ThermoEnergy Corporation (OTC Pink Sheets: TMEN) ThermoEnergy Corporation ("ThermoEnergy" – TMEN), announced recently that the Company and F. R. Mahony & Associates have signed a non-exclusive Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop a new biological/physical-chemistry process to remove nitrogen from industrial and municipal wastewater. The new process combines ThermoEnergy's Ammonia Recovery Process with F. R. Mahony's biological AOx process to remove and recover nitrogen as ammonia. The process, called BioCAST™ can achieve greater than 85% reduction in total nitrogen while recovering the majority of the nitrogen in the form of ammonia. The process is suited for municipal and industrial wastewaters, landfill leachate, agricultural wastewater and many other high strength waste streams. The BioCAST process has the potential of treating high volumes of water with a small footprint (approximately 1/6 that of a wholly biological process) and high efficiency significantly reducing the costs of nitrogen reduction as well as reducing the emission of nitrous oxide, a green house gas. AECOM, a ThermoEnergy partner, will be also participating in the research by providing scientific and engineering peer review.

The ARP process is one of ThermoEnergy's premiere patented technologies, whose economic and environmental performance provide significant advantages over conventional ammonia removal technologies. When the City of New York recently published its intent to enter into a sole source contract with ThermoEnergy on the ARP project, the City described the ARP process as follows: when compared to currently employed biological treatment processes, ARP appears to be one of the more efficient means of removing ammonia from centrate, thus minimizing the release of nutrients to the surrounding waters of NYC, preventing fugitive emissions of Greenhouse gases released by wastewater treatment and consuming less available power.

COMPANY NEWS

Eastman Chemical Profit Up in 1st quarter

Eastman Chemical Co. reported that its profit grew in the first quarter as sales improved.

The chemicals, plastics and adhesives company earned $101 million, or $1.37 per share, up from $2 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. The year-ago quarter included $25 million in restructuring charges.

Revenue grew 39 percent to $1.56 billion as demand and prices rose.

Cytec Q1 Beats Expectations

U.S. specialty chemical maker Cytec Industries Inc (CYT.N) posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by strong sales volumes, and expects to modestly exceed high-end of its 2010 forecast.

"Selling volumes in our Specialty Chemical and Building Block segments increased from improved demand across all regions," Chief Executive Shane Fleming said in a statement.

Cytec had forecast 2010 adjusted earnings of $1.90 to $2.40 per share.

For the latest first quarter, the company posted earnings of $24.8 million, or 50 cents a share. Excluding items, the company earned 66 cents a share.

Revenue of Cytec rose 29 percent to $787 million.

Cytec caters to sectors ranging from aerospace to industrial coatings.

Braskem Outlines Sugar-cane PE Plans

Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem S.A. (Sao Paulo) plans to have 200,000 tonnes/yr of production capacity for its sugar-cane based polyethylene (PE) online by October, with work on sugar-cane derived polypropylene (PP) and EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber ongoing. Leonora Novaes, green polymers commercial leader at Braskem, laid out her company's progress in commercializing a PE based on sugar-cane generated ethanol at TAPPI's PLACE 2010 Conference (April 18-21, Albuquerque, NM), as well as pointing out the material's greenness relative to fossil-fuel based polymers and some biobased ones.

Instead of corn or sugar beets, Braskem is utilizing sugar cane to create ethanol, which is then sent through a "dehydration" plant which removes water from the ethanol, leaving ethylene in its place. Novaes said that for every one unit of fossil fuel put into the sugar-cane process, you end up with 9.3 units of energy. This compares quite favorably to the 1.4 units of energy output from corn or 2.0 units from sugar beets. In addition, Novaes described sugar cane as a "carbon capture" crop, saying its density and size, with mature plants reaching 10 feet, coupled with the fact that it will return annually for anywhere from 6-10 years without replanting, give it a net-negative carbon footprint. Novaes said that from 1 kg of fossil-fuel based PE, you get 2.5 kg of carbon dioxide, while 1 kg of Braskem's green PE actually captures 2.5 kg of carbon dioxide. Utilizing all portions of the plant, 1 hectare of land produces three tonnes of PE, with Novaes saying that the country's industrial sugar-cane production, which also supports its aggressive liquid fuels program, is not encroaching on rain forests.

The PE facility will utilize LyondellBasell's Hostalen reactor technology to create bimodal high-density polyethylene suitable for bottles, with nameplate capacity of 140,000 tonnes/yr. In addition, LyondellBasell Spherilene reaction technology will support a 60,000 tonnes/yr linear low-density PE line.

Cereplast Signs Distribution Deal for Chile, Peru

Cereplast, a manufacturer of biologically made plastics in El Segundo, has entered into an agreement to supply bioplastic resins to customers in Chile and Peru.

In Chile, Cereplast’s products will allow the country’s manufacturers to fulfill their need for more environmentally friendly materials. Cereplast’s resins replace petroleum-based chemicals with starches from corn, wheat, tapioca or potatoes. The bioplastics return to nature within 180 days of disposal.

The distribution agreement is with ATSA Chile LE in Santiago. It distributes industrial chemicals, polymers and plastics.

“This expansion was largely made possible by the major success we’ve experienced in Brazil,” Cereplast Chief Executive Frederic Scheer said in a statement.

Aramco, Dow Consider New Location for Petchem Plant

Saudi Arabia's state oil giant Saudi Aramco and U.S. firm Dow Chemical are considering relocating their planned giant petrochemical complex to Jubail, Reuters reports.

When Aramco and Dow announced plans to build the $20-billion plus plant, they initially chose Ras Tanura, home to the world's biggest offshore oil facility, for the complex that would produce 8 million tonnes per year of petrochemicals.

But the cost of reclaiming the land at Ras Tanura and congestion at the site had led Dow and Aramco to reconsider plans, the sources said.

Aramco and Dow have already requested land in Jubail, said a source. Both Dow and Aramco spokespeople declined to comment on the possibility of changing location.

Aramco and Dow would need approximately two to three months to get approval for the move from Saudi authorities, said another source.

"To reclaim the land in Ras Tanura is very costly while you have lots of land available nearby," one source said.

The alternative location at Jubail, where there is already a 305,000 bpd refinery and where Aramco and France's Total plan to build another 400,000 bpd refinery, is already a major hub for petrochemicals. It is between Ras Azzour and Ras Tanura on the Gulf coast.

The Saudi government has already completed an expansion phase of infrastructure at Jubail, where plots of land are ready for construction.

"Jubail is better for synergies and integration with other petrochemical plants, and it has everything including an export terminal," said Sadad al-Husseini, a former top executive at Saudi Aramco.

Dow's investment in Ras Tanura would have been the largest ever single foreign investment in the energy sector of the world's top oil exporter and the plant would be one of the largest petrochemical facilities in the world.

Aramco and Dow have agreed to spend $1.2 billion on engineering work alone for their Ras Tanura petrochemical plant.

U.S. firm KBR Inc along with Foster Wheeler and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc are all conducting the front-end engineering and design of the petrochemicals complex. The engineering work was due to be completed by the first or second quarter of this year.

The complex was to be integrated with the 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) expansion of the Ras Tanura refinery, already the largest plant in the Middle East with capacity of 550,000 bpd. The Ju'aymah gas processing plant would also have fed into the initial complex.

The refinery expansion has been on hold since last year, when Aramco sent letters to bidders for construction contracts at the plant telling them the project was deferred.

Lubrizol Joins Others in Cognis Bid

U.S. specialty chemicals maker Lubrizol (LZ.N) has joined a string of other bidders in talks to buy Cognis COGNS.UL, with an offer that could value the German maker of additives for cosmetics and detergents at about $4.1 billion, the Financial Times reported recently.

Several parties including BASF are interested in a takeover of Cognis, people close to the negotiations told Reuters.

Evonik and Belgium chemical company Solvay (SOLB.BR) have also been cited as potential candidates.

Permira PERM.UL and co-owner Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (GS.N), which turned down takeover offers for Cognis as too low in 2006, aim to fetch a sale price of at least 3.5 billion euros ($4.68 billion) including debt, one of the people had said.

BMW to Use Carbon Fiber Composites in Electric Vehicle

BMW AG and the SGL Group will build a $100 million carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Washington to supply parts for a new BMW electric vehicle.

The greenfield factory will begin production in the third-quarter of 2011 and make ultra-lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastics exclusively for BMW’s first vehicle under a new sub-brand. BMW calls the project a “megacity” vehicle. The automaker did not disclose the sub-brand’s name or details about the vehicle other than to say it will be electric-powered and arrive before 2015.

The Moses Lake, Wash., plant will employ 80 and be built by the joint-venture, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers LLC.

Carbon fiber-reinforced plastics are currently used in limited parts on low-volume cars, but BMW will use it throughout the structure and in exterior and interior body panels, said a BMW of North America spokesman.

SGL already has composite materials factories in the United States and Canada, making parts such as wind energy and aerospace components.

Friedrich Eichiner, member of the BMW AG board of management for finance, said that the two companies “will be able to produce carbon fiber enhanced components in large volumes at competitive costs for the first time.

The new car will bring together global production sources beyond the new Washington site, with SGL and its Japanese joint-venture partner Mitsubishi Rayon creating part of the carbon fiber formula in Otake, Japan, as well as using BMW production in Landshut, Germany, and Wackersdorf, Germany.

BMW will make the electric car at the same Leipzig, Germany, assembly plant that makes the 1 series passenger car and X1 crossover.

ACQUISITIONS/ EXPANSIONS

DuPont Resumes Plans for Shenzhen Expansion

DuPont Co. announced on April 19 that it will push forward with plans to add new production lines to its Shenzhen, China, plant, doubling the company’s compounding capacity in the region.

“We announced our plans to add production lines two years ago, but then, three months later, the crisis hit and we stopped everything,” said James Hay, regional director of performance polymers in Asia Pacific. “Now it’s going to be ready in three months.”

The lines will include the company’s range of Zytel nylon 6 and 66 resins as well as the DuPont Zytel HTN PPA high-performance polyamide. These materials offer increased temperature and chemical resistance and can serve in a range of automotive and electronic applications.

Currently, the Wilmington, Del.-based company splits its sales equally between North America, Europe and Asia. Asia, however, is growing quickly. DuPont is projecting 12 percent sales growth globally for 2010, and Asia is set to be a big part of that.

In addition to the expansion at the Shenzhen plant, DuPont has also added facilities to its Shanghai research and development center, expanding the company’s capability for automotive applications, including noise and vibration testing as well as impact simulation for testing how materials respond in different environments.

“The Shanghai center offers services for plastics and for some of DuPont’s other materials,” said Philippe Hanck, the sales and development director for performance polymers, covering emerging economies including China, India, and ASEAN nations. The range of materials often ends up complimenting one another. “Many have the same end markets,” Hank said.

The automotive market is a particular target for the center, in light of rising sales numbers in China’s domestic market and the number of new car makers hoping to expand their offerings.

“Cars in China have less engineering plastic content than elsewhere in the world,” Hanck pointed out. “So even if automobile sales volumes cool down, there will be room for growth in the market.”

In addition to the automotive market, Hay has high hopes for infrastructure and railway applications. “Asia overall was quick to recover from the crisis, with China the earliest out,” said Hay. Still, he says, 2010 may not be all smooth sailing. “Coming out of a crisis like this you have to ask how much of [the current increase] is based on industry build.”

More importantly, according to Hanck, is the outlook for the next five years. “We’re keeping a close eye on these large trends,” he said. “I think we’re well placed to serve these markets well.”

Lanxess Expands Capacities for High-Tech Plastics in China

Lanxess will expand capacities at its state-of-the-art compounding plant for high-tech plastics in Wuxi, China. The German specialty chemicals company will invest in a third production line at the plant, which will increase compounding capacities by nearly 50 percent and is scheduled to go on stream mid-2011. After the expansion, the plant will have a capacity of approximately 60,000 metric tons per year.

"This investment will serve the growing demand from Chinese and Asian customers for premium, high-performance engineering plastics, mainly driven by the booming automotive industry," said Axel C. Heitmann, Lanxess Chairman of the Board of Management. He added that Lanxess was considering further investments in Wuxi in the near future.

The expansion was announced during Chinaplas 2010, Asia's largest and most important plastics and rubber trade fair.

As a result of rapid development, China is now the world's largest automotive market with unit sales projected to rise by eight percent to more than 14 million vehicles in 2010. This has led to a significant increase in demand for Lanxess engineering plastics and high-performance rubbers.

Also in the increasing urbanization trend, Lanxess is an active participant. Urban planners predict that the population of China's cities will reach one billion by 2030 and that 70 percent of China's citizens will be living in urban areas by 2035. As a result, there is an urgent requirement for the rapid development and upgrade of infrastructure.

Thus products made by Lanxess such as inorganic pigments will benefit from these shifts. Builders require effective and reliable products for the coloration and beautification of concrete applications in the construction industry. To meet the increasing demand, the company's local production sites in Shanghai for inorganic pigments are currently being expanded. A new facility for black iron oxide is planned to go on stream in October 2010.

Celanese, SABIC, Duke to Build $400 Million Saudi Plant

Chemical company Celanese Corp., Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and Duke Energy Corp. will invest a total of $400 million to jointly construct a 50,000-ton polyacetal production facility in Saudi Arabia, according to the Associated Press. Polyacetal is a plastic that is used to make mechanical and automotive parts such as car door locks and seat belt mechanisms. It also is used in various consumer, medical and electrical products. Engineering and construction of the facility is expected to begin later this year. The companies will build the plant through their National Methanol Co. (Ibn Sina) joint venture, which began in 1981 and will now run through 2032. Ibn Sina produces methanol, a key feedstock for POM production. Celanese and a Duke affiliate each own 25 percent of Ibn Sina and SABIC holds the remaining 50 percent stake. Once the polyacetal facility starts up, Celanese's stake in Ibn Sina will rise to 32.5 percent. SABIC's stake will remain unchanged.

BASF's Catalysts Division Strengthens Manufacturing and Testing in Germany

BASF's Catalysts division has completed a number of capital investment projects to strengthen the company's manufacturing and testing capabilities at its operating facilities in Nienburg and Hannover, Germany.

The company recently started up a third belt dryer at its Nienburg production site, enhancing capacity at one of the world's most sophisticated production facilities for adsorbents and desiccants.

BASF invested several million euros on the new 40-meter, gas-powered belt dryer, which is made from high-alloy stainless steel and used to produce alumino-silica beads known by the trade names Sorbead and KC-Trockenperlen. Less than 12 months elapsed from contract award to plant commissioning, including the construction of a 50-meter production building to house the new dryer.

"By supplementing our existing steam-powered dryers with a new gas-powered solution, we increase plant availability while also reducing our relative energy costs," said Peter Engelmann, Site Manager at the Nienburg adsorbents and desiccants facility. "We are very well equipped in terms of capacity and production technology and look forward to meeting our customers' needs for many years to come."

"We continually strive to expand our technological leadership and competitive strength," added Dr. Peter Polanek, Director, Catalysts Operations Europe. "Despite the challenging economic environment, we have maintained our commitment to investment and innovation to drive long-term growth."

In addition to its dryer expansion project, BASF's neighboring mobile emissions catalysts plant in Nienburg is expanding production of catalysts for heavy-duty trucks and commercial vehicles. "The Euro 6 emission standard requires commercial vehicles and heavy-duty trucks to comply with more stringent legal emission limits beginning in 2013, with incentives for earlier adoption," said Gunnar Gädke, Site Manager of the emission catalysts plant in Nienburg. "Our ongoing production expansion will enable us to keep pace with increased regional demand for our high-quality emissions control solutions for heavy-duty vehicles." In addition to emission catalysts for gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles, the Nienburg facility coats radiators with the PremAir catalyst that converts ozone into oxygen.

Moreover, BASF's Catalysts division has completed the expansion of its engine testing laboratory in Hannover, adding new engine test cells to boost capacity by almost 30%. The company conducts in-house testing on the products it develops, including emission control catalysts for gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles. The chief administrative offices of BASF's Catalysts division in Germany are also located in Hannover.

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